#Mac pro desktop workstation Pc
#Mac pro desktop workstation plus
#Mac pro desktop workstation mac

The NeXTcube (1988) The design of the Mac Pro 2ĭesigned by a team led by Matt Casebolt (now at Tesla Motors), the Mac Pro 2 inherits indeed many elements from the Power Mac Cube, yet it takes them to an unprecedented level.

#Mac pro desktop workstation Pc

Yet, the concept behind the Cube (partly derived from that of Job’s NeXTcube) was really novel and courageous it was aimed at creating a professional computer that didn’t resemble a typical PC and which, at the same time, embodied a simple and rational design, especially when compared to the huge full-tower graphics workstations of the time.Īpple resuscitated that concept 13 years later, with the second generation of Mac Pro.Īdvertise of new Apple products for the year 2000, including the Power Mac G4 Cube image courtesy of Apple Inc.

Yet, the machine was a commercial flop, mostly due to high price, problems with its acrylic plastic enclosure, and lack of expandability (something most users considered very important, back then). Nevertheless, no rule dictates that a computer can’t have any shape different from a box, as long as you have some kind of control over its hardware components shape and size.įurthermore, a box certainly isn’t the best form factor when ventilation is taken into account since it doesn’t facilitate convective airflow inside the case that’s why most PCs need one or more cooling fans.Īpple experimented with some innovative designs in the late 1990s, such as the Power Mac G4 Cube which still was a box, of course, but fanless, tiny, and square. Indeed, it’s not a coincidence that the English word case originates from the Latin word capsa which indicates a (usually wooden) box and, if we look, for example, at the good old Apple I, we realize why this term is quite appropriate.Īn Apple I (1976) and its wooden case photo: Ed Uthman Trying something different: the Power Mac G4 Cube Furthermore, such a box should be large enough to accommodate all the above-mentioned parts, and still leave enough room to properly ventilate and cool the machine. The most natural shape for an enclosure into which all that stuff fits better is a rectangular box, you’d agree with me.

#Mac pro desktop workstation plus

Since the late Seventies, a typical PC is composed of flat rectangular components, usually configured as a relatively large motherboard into which a series of smaller boards, also flat and rectangular, are vertically plugged – video cards, network controllers, communication port cards, sound cards, and so on -, plus a series of other boxes of various sizes, such as disk drives and power supply units. Why are so many computers shaped like a rectangular box? Have you ever wondered why so many desktop personal computers are shaped like a massive rectangular box? The reason, along with a certain lack of creativity by their designers, is mostly technical. Mac Pro 2nd generation, when Apple failed to change computer design Mac Pro 2, top view photo courtesy of Apple Inc.